What's it about?

Belletristica will unfortunately be shut down. But if you're just now finding out about this here, please flip back to the beginning.

When was the decision made?

Quite recently, just this February.

Was there internal conflict between admins and/or fairies?

Absolutely not. On the contrary, it was honestly surprising how unanimous we were with the decision. Everything is fine between us.

When exactly will the site be shut down?

Expectedly on December 21st for the Darkest Days. The platform will darken one last time, and we will light lanterns together.

Are there plans for rebuild any of this?

Yes. Not by us, though. But by true Belletristica veterans who understand what it's all about and whom we actually trust to do so. See the next chapter for more on that.

By when do I need to secure my books?

There's no rush. We will make downloading your own books possible even after the shutdown.

Why did some users know earlier?

Only our moderation knew before the official announcement, and we see this as absolutely necessary. Our mods will likely be confronted with dozens of questions just like us after the announcement. Imagine they had to process the news themselves at that point, had no overview of the whole situation, and not a single answer to anything. It would be complete chaos.

Why were there several weeks between the decision and the official announcement?

Three reasons.

1. First, I had to write this entire document. If I get bombarded with 10,000 (entirely justified) questions and messages after the announcement and have no chance to read them all, let alone respond in a timely manner, then that's unpleasant for both me and you.
2. The second reason is that after the internal announcement to the mods, a whole new situation arose. Originally, the plan was to prepare the moderation and then make it public just two or three days later. But when the idea of a fresh start quickly emerged and persisted, I delayed the official announcement a few more days to give everyone involved some time to think about the idea, check its feasibility, and decide whether it should really be attempted. It didn't take long, but you know what happened right after that.
3. The last weeks, and actually the entire month before, were unbelievably cursed. You experienced it yourself, at least a part of it, mainly the server problems. We simply never had outages of such severity and duration, let alone annoying bot invasions to that extent. Unfortunately, I hardly had time to move from one crisis to the next during the last weeks. And honestly, I'm still not comfortable with the situation at the time of publication, because what if we publish this and a few minutes later the server goes down for a few hours... Ouch. Let's hope it turns out differently.
4. 
   

I'm sorry you had to wait so long for a statement. I didn't want to confront you with the fact until everything was clarified and there was a reference work. The news is painful enough for many. Additional grief in the form of uncertainty and chaos was something we wanted to avoid at all costs.

We had our suspicions...

Of course, you did. You're not stupid. There were no illusions on our part that you wouldn't figure it out anyway. If we give you a puzzle that's supposed to keep you busy for a week or so, it never lasts longer than half an hour to an hour. Thanks to everyone who sensed that something was off, yet held back their very legitimate questions until today. It has really given us some extra time to get everything ready like this.

Will the Garden Game and Winter Invasion still take place?

Yes. The Garden Game continues and, if at all possible, even a last new field will be added this month. The Winter Invasion will probably be quite different this time because "Save Belletristica" is not a particularly motivating thought before the shutdown. But we'll think of something.

What happens to my gems, items, levels, and hats?

If a community-led new spritual successor of Belletristica comes to fruition and the project succeeds to the extent that these features can be introduced there, whether at launch or later, then we can transfer the old data. The old database will remain, so old items can be imported. If the new team is ready, we are happy to help transfer these things. All treasures will, so to speak, move into a safe vault. Whether this will ever be unearthed is no longer up to us, but if so, I will help as best I can.

Will there still be bug fixes?

Yes, everything important will be adressed until the very end. Urgent bug fixes, server outages, whenever a book is lost or a profile cannot be opened.

Will there still be new features or updates?

In principle, we now have a feature freeze and will not implement any new things. I still think a few minor things are quite likely. Of course, they will mainly be things related to the end of our journey. A new field in the garden game, perhaps new chat command, such things.

How long can we still contact you?

I'm not planning to disappear. I'll definitely be here until the official end anyway. As long as there are efforts to usher in a new era, I want to support the team. If there will be a new Belletristica, you'll find me there too. Just not as an admin anymore.

Is the decision final?

Unfortunately, yes. Please respect the decision and do not try to persuade us otherwise. We have given this a lot of thought and see no way to continue doing this in the future or wanting to do so. Believe me when I say that Belletristica is my life's work to date, and I have thought through every conceivable possibility multiple times to avert a shutdown. And believe me, there were not only good, realistically sounding ideas but also completely absurd ones. Ideas you only come up with when you really don't want to shut something down.

Have you already thought about [insert any idea] to continue the platform as it is now?

Yes.

And that wouldn't work?

No.

What if Belletristica disappears without a trace one day before the end of December?

Then it's due to a server outage, and we will of course take care of it. Don't worry, we won't just suddenly pull the plug one day, and we will also strive for as smooth a process as possible until the end.

I support you on Patreon, what happens next?

All charges from Patreon are currently paused, and over the course of the month, we will completely shut down our Patreon account. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the support over the years. Without you, so much here simply wouldn't have been possible.

Can I continue to donate?

Unfortunately, no. From the moment the decision was made, it was clear to us that we could no longer accept further donations. We are very grateful to everyone who has supported us, but we will take care of the rest ourselves.

What do I need to do to stop my donations?

We'll take care of it, you don't need to do anything. Our Patreon account is already paused for this month and will be completely turned off over the course of the month. There will be no further charges.